I was just recalling the first time we ever drove our '74 1.8 with Twin Webers. It was the first 914 we'd had after my dad sold his back in the 80's, and we picked her up for $600 dollars after catching it on fire briefly while trying to turn the motor over. When we got it home, we started digging through the car, and discovered two main things: 1) the passenger side Weber was seized up, which resulted in 2) the crappy metal crank that attaches the go pedal to the throttle cable being broken. So basically the gas pedal was non-functioning. After removing the carb, pulling it apart and freeing it up with WD-40, we at least could get the car finally started! After much trying, backfires, and standing around with fire extinguishers, the motor jumped to life!

Not content to just have the motor running, my dad and our friend (a body man who restores old cars & worked at a porsche/bmw/mercedes/audi dealership) kinda looked at each other and said, "wanna take it around the block?". We had removed the rear trunk and engine lid to get better access in the engine bay, which incidentally led to possibly the most ludicdous 914 sight I've seen yet. I want you to picture someone sitting in the rear trunk, manually running the carburetors by hand, while my dad steered/shifted, and me along for the ride. It took a few moments to synchronize driver/throttle man, but soon we were pulling out of the back alley, and cruising along our neighborhood in a backfiring, trunkless 914 with a guy hanging onto the rollbar working the throttle. Needless to say, all the kids in the neighborhood were pointing and following, then ducking and running when it backfired. We did a few laps, and then parked her, victorious!

We only did it the one time, and naturally this was before cell phone cameras and even digital cameras being everywhere, so sorry I don't have a pic or video. Soon we got a replacement lever, rebuilt the carbs with a rebuild kit, sorted the throttle linkage all out, and had her driving normally.

Anyone else have ridiculous, 914 stories from your restoration, trips to meets, or just daily driving?

Oh yes . . . I can see it all now. That's funny.

I had built my V8 car and was having a ball. My dad was my hero and had taught me to work on cars at an early age so we always had that connection and as the V8 project progressed we'd talk each week about what and how to do stuff. He was in AZ and in CO. After coming to visit and riding in the beast it ignited and old spark.

Fast forward about a year later and I'm visiting AZ, so far it's been all talk until I go out and get the newspaper. Low and behold I see a teener in the classifieds and I circle it and label it Dad'd 914, then leave it with his coffee. Off we go that afternoon to take a look.

The V8 car was my 4th teener and I'd had several VWs before that so I was pretty confident that we could get this baby running even thought the ad said it starts, but needs some TLC. It wouldn't idle so the throttle was adjusted to run about 1500 RPM and it would spit and miss. Even so we tried to drive it around the block and the accelerator cable was looped around the clutch so every time you pushed the clutch in it opened the throttle.

Dad was ready to run away from this "project" and the sellers had no clue what was wrong or how they were going to sell it. It was a really clean no rust '73 1.7 with steelies and nice chrome caps so I looked in to see what I could see. I found that the point were welded together and that's when I noteced the single carb conversion.

I think we bough the car for $800 on the spot(1988) but we had to get it home. I borrowed a screwdriver and an emery board to fix the points and gapped them with a piece of paper then started playing with the carb. I was leaning over the engine when I told dad to start it; not a good plan.

The flame was about 3 feet long and the explosion got everyone's attention only to see me emerge with my face smoking. Mustash, eyebrows, hair and even my eyelashes were singed and smoking. It could have been a whole lot worse, but it was pretty funny at the time.

Well you've certainly got me beat could be redneck humor though.

Mine was no way as funny, I bought a $900 black 914 around 1996 in San Francisco Had a great sunny day running around. She was a pretty good runner for $900 even then. Started to get late and foggy (the car had no top) so headed back home and I learn she didn't like the dark as it seems as though after it got good and dark on some rather fun hard driving back roads towards Sunnyvale the car would just quit so I open the eng. lid took a look with my trusty bic lighter as if I had any idea what to even look for, noticed the battery was lose, pusheed it back to its proper place and for some reason tried to start my new teener up. To my amazement it fired right up and was ready to go. Well, this happened a few more times when I decided I needed to be on a main road as it was very likely that I wasn't going to drive her home under 914 power. So I drove down Elcamino and as I was passing Stanford College decided to cut through the campus as It was getting late, closer to home, oh the battery didn't seem to be charging right and as no one was around turned of the lights and drove on slowly when soddenly I was serouneded by big black GMC Suburbans, like FBI or something. They were, after I told my story pretty cool but made it clear that 1. I needed my lights on and 2. That I was to get the hell off campus!
The next day on the news I found that the Clintons had just taken Chelsea to her new college, Stanford!
As it turned out the battery keep pushing up on the computer and after the battery was cleaned up and properly tied down she was happy.

That sounds about like when we torched the 1.8! As mentioned, the passenger carb was frozen, so we at least wanted to check and see if it would at least crank. Our friend suggested we could dump a little bit of gas down each carb to at least get it to fire. We did it a couple of times to verify the motor was spinning, and figured what the hey, maybe she'll crank over. On our final try, the PO had brought an extinguisher just in case. The motor sounded like it was *so close* to actually starting, and then she burped out the carb, and next thing we know the whole carb was gently alight! Our friend threw his sweatshirt on the fire, which had coincidentally been just given to him by his wife (that didn't go over well), and then the PO pit it with the extinguisher. After this, we figured better not push our luck, and we went ahead and sealed the deal with the guy for $200 below his asking price of $800, just to get it gone. So yeah, caught it on fire before we even owned it!

Way back when my car was somewhat running with the original 2.0 4cylinder motor, I had to make a road trip to Waco. On the way back, just north of Waco, the throttle cable broke. I had dual webers on the car at the time, so I just took the top off and pulled the wire to the right hand speaker off the radio, split it and tied the two pieces together. Then I tied one end to the crossbar on the carbs, ran it through the mesh in the engine grill, and the other end I ran over the targa band and tied it to the laces of my right shoe closest to the toes. I could step down where the accelerator pedal normally was, and the car would speed up. I could lift my foot and run the brake because the brake pedal was high enough to leave slack in the wire when using it.

I was coming up I35 just south of the split, and it started to rain. I was going fast enough that the rain wasn't coming into the car, it just went over me. Problem was, a Texas State Trooper came up next to me. She saw me in this beat up, multi colored (11 different colors at that time) old car with the top off in the rain. So she had to stop me. I stopped under the next bridge. She came up and asked me to step out of the car. Well, I then had to explain about the broken throttle cable, and how I rigged it to get me home.

A few minutes of laughing and commenting on my ingenuity, she said she understood why the top was off, but she wanted to know how come I wasn't getting soaked. I explained to her that as long as I kept moving, the rain was blown over the car and didn't come inside. She shook her head and, after a quick check of my license and insurance, she sent me on my way.

I got wetter getting back up to speed than I did the whole rest of the drive home.

And I got to accelerate at full throttle in front of a state trooper without getting a ticket!


And somebody needs to get Dave Darling tell the story of how he got his nickname (Damp Dave).

To keep with the theme of "carbs and fire", here is my story...

One of my dream cars was a Lotus Europa. I actually found one for sale that was affordable (this is back in the mid-80s) so I bought it

When I went to pick it up, my sister went with me to drive my 914 while I drove the Lotus. The 914 was powered by a euro-spec 2.0 with dual Webers.

After about an hour drive, I decided to stop by a friend's house along the way to show him my new purchase. As we approached his house, I noticed my sister was falling further and further behind. I stopped and waited for her. As she got closer, she suddenly stopped. I could see smoke and flames coming from the back of the 914

I ran to the car and grabbed a fire extinguisher and put the fire out. It pretty much destroyed the right side of the engine down to the head.

Pulled a car off the trailer to have it break in half going down the ramps.
Had to cut it completely with a saws all to move the front half off, then pulled the back half into the barn and using the saws all I cut the body off the motor and trans....

Had to move some cars around in my driveway so I pulled the 914 out and pointed it uphill, put the E-brake on and started walking away. Suddenly, I became aware that it was on its way down the hill and gaining speed! I should mention, the hill is very steep and 100 yards long emptying onto what can be a busy street. So, I chase it and I'm trying to dive in which I manage to do but I'm still moving and I can't get my feet pointed right to apply the brake. All I can think of is the car going all the way into the street and hitting someone! But it turns out that isn't the worse that could happen. Off to the one side of my driveway is a field and on the downhill side of the field, a cliff...

Luckily, I get my foot on the brake and miraculously, there is no damage!

The 1st summer I had my 914 1.7, low mileage but 10 yrs old in '83.
I was creeping along in the middle lane of a freeway during rush hr heading home from work.
When the car, also barely moving, in the lane to my right rolls down his window and yells,

"You're car is spraying liquid on the ground and it sells like gas !!!"

He let me pull in front of him to the curb. The plastic fuel line had split almost in half !!
No fire I still owe that guy a huge thanks !

Up late the night before an autocross in Grenada Mississippi, had addressed some rough areas of the interior under the passengers seat and had decided clean up the area there around the wiring harness that's secured there. I gingerly moved the wiring bundle up and around and over, etc. I remember thinking that it was rather stiff but I really didn't have to move it --much(Never did get around to figuring out what all that is.) Anyway, early the next morning I'm flying up hwy 49 from Hattiesburg to Jackson at about 90mph when suddenly I'm sure I smell something?! Within seconds the interior fills up with acrid white smoke! The windows are up 'cause it's cold outside, I can't see and I'm overcome with a coughing fit and am barely able to get the window cracked and slow down the car at the same time! fortunately I was on a strait section of the highway and could feel the rumble strips and could get the car stopped safely! I just rolled out and laid on the ground/edge of the road and caught my breath. Glad it didn't catch fire- I was fairly incapacitated for several minutes- I'm not sure I could have operated the extinguisher.
Anyway, after about 10 minutes or so I decided to see if it would run. Cranked up right away- continued on my way!

Drove across the line to buy my first 914. Drove about 6 hours, made the deal, hit the road! (Loaded on a trailer)Made it just into WA state and my truck and my new car got hit by a spinning GMC Jimmy on I-5. Hilarious. Wrecked before I got home.

Somewhere in the 80s had a broken clutch cable on Christmas eve, out on Long Island while I was living in Manhattan. Was at my stepmom's house, not my favorite place, so after exchanging gifts went back to Manhattan in the dead calm of a NY holiday night. Somehow, I only had to shift 5 times the whole trip! Carry a clutch cable with me now all the time.

Also, used to try to park the car conspicuously whenever possible (college days in the 70's) and after coming out of a bar for a breath of fresh air, asked a fellow to stop sitting on the fender of my 1971 Signal Orange car. It was parked right in front, small group of people hanging out. He did so politely, left the bar but not before passing me and my friend in his.......911S. He shouted out the window how "sorry" he was for sitting on my car. I can still hear that bastard cackling as he drove off...

Paul

One time at band camp, I was driving my 914.....oh forget it!!

I was hoping more for funny, but that's just depressing...

During my college days my 914 (72 1.7 FI) was my only car. I would drive 350 miles one way, in the 110 degree southwest heat, to go home on holidays. I was able to pack my entire belongings into it.

My tool kit consisted of a hammer, long screwdriver and a toy water pistol.

The hammer was to whack the starter when it failed to run. The screw driver was to jump the posts on the starter when the hammer did not work and the toy water pistol was to shot water onto the fuel pump to cool it down.

It was a sight to see at the rest stops. Oh to be young and stupid.

RRC in Ouray, Co. Going over the 11,000' pass, I saw a geyser of liquid coming out of my engine grill. Pretty sight until I figured out it was fuel and my return line had come loose ... 70 PSI geyser. No flames, but scary.

Another, when I lit off my 2.7L conversion, I heard someone yell fire. Rats had built a winter home in the HEs and the running engine caught their home on fire. Quick blast with 125 psig air and the burning material blew out the HE.

Bought a car from Pick-A-Part. Tried starting in the yard prior to towing. Engine caught fire from a leaking fuel line. Put it our with no damage, but a hell of a scare.

Every time I took my dog with me he'd be sniffing the passenger floor area. Unpon investigation I pulled the carpet and foot rest only to find it packed with dog food!

As I'm cleaning out the mess my wife comes home complaining about how her car seems to have no power and won't idle very well. It was a really cherry 450SL that she hardly drove and was always ran great. I pulled the top off the aircleaner can and found that it too was packed solid with dog food.

Living in the country in Colorado I had no idea that we had some resident pack rats. Fortunately they didn't destroy any of the wireing.

Speaking of pack rats...

For a while, I kept my car in the garage bay on the end of my uncle's barn. His house was in a rural part of (s)lower Delaware. I found out that the car wasn't the only resident of that barn. I went over there to do some work after a couple weeks of being away and found a very unpleasant surprise: a rat had gotten in the car, crawled on top of the fuse block, and ... DIED there. It must have been electrocuted somehow.

There was mostly decomposed rat all over the fuse block connections and on the driver's floor - YUCK! That was the worst mess I've ever had to clean up.

The yellow '73 that I have just gotten running and sorted has headlights that don't exactly want to work. I was out driving yesterday, puling the switch in and out multiple times (to "wake" it up?) and the headlight doors open at random times. Sometimes halfway up, usually one at a time. I had my wife sit in the car and pull the switch and the car looks like it is blinking at me. I think 914s have a sly sense of humor.

I had this happen to me twice... Once on the front straight on streets of willow and once with a girl in the car in a residential area.

The throttle cable linkage would catch on the clutch linkage since it was an inch further forward.

A parts car I picked up many years ago had the front trunk release cable cut cleanly in half. Thought I was pretty smart getting into it from behind the front bumper...until the lid swung open and the bees came out. They were pretty angry. That was the last one I ever bought come to think of it .

When I'd get stuck in the snow, I'd put it in first gear, open the door, push and hop in when it started go go going.

Paul

broke my accelerator cable at the autox, a site that has chain link fencing around it so if you leave the car, you cant get back inside later on...like when you get back with a trailer.

Tied the throttle body off so the motor was at about 3500 rpms and drove it home about 15 miles.

Loud at the intersections, but worked fine with quick short shifts and picking the right gear.

rich

Bought a 73 1.7 in '79. About '82 I'm driving with my girlfriend to a bar in the back country. We're having a mild argument about ??? The car has been acting up, threatening to stall whenever I get off the throttle. It's fall and rainy and there are lots of wet leaves. I am really going slow on this twisty road and everytime I lift the throttle I declutch and rev it to keep it going. After about 10 minutes of this we come to a little 90 degree turn at the top of a rise. When I declutch we go into a very slow lift throttle oversteer spin. Good old 914 low polar moment of inertia results in a pirouette 540. All going about 5mph. We spin into a little ditch. The car tips up on its side but is luckily stopped from rolling over by a wooden fence post. The car rolls back on its wheels and we stop. The first words out of my mouth, "are you ok?" Just then the farmer pulls up on his tractor yanks the car out of the ditch and refuses my offer of money for the tow or the fence damage. Talk about lucky. But the real luck was when we got back in the car. I got a big smootch and the argument is over. Why? "The first words out of your mouth was asking if I was ok" "You cared more about me then that damn car"

It turned out just fine. There was one funny thing..
At that time one of my favorite sayings to annoy my buddy Andrew was, "I need adventure!"
Andrew drove down with me that ill fated day. We stood on the side of the I5 as I stared at my poor car. We were silent for about a minute or so and he slapped his hand on my shoulder and said," Well, you said you needed adventure!"
I was going to kill him right there, but all we could do was laugh our asses off.

In 2010 or maybe 2009. Started the 914 for the first time that spring. It started shooting charred sunflower seeds out the exhaust pipe.

Chipmunks had put a cache of seeds in the muffler, that had then gotten ceramic coated and installed on my car.

It was funny as hell to see my car shooting seeds.

Zach

When my folks got married, my dad had a Tangerine '72 1.7 with the vinyl sail trim and the 356 style round hubcaps. In prepping their car for their departure at the wedding, their friends filled the car with rice. FILLED. The blowers kept shooting rice randomly out for YEARS.

Also, during their honeymoon, his friends thought it would be just so funny to leave an open tin of sardines under his seat while the car sat at the airport. Unfortunately, they didn't actually pick up the car from the airport, his mother did. After it had been baking in the west Texas sun for a week or so...

A few years back we took the 914 on week-end trek from Edmonton, Alberta down to Waterton/Glacier National Park in Southern Alberta and Northern Montana (a nice half day drive). Anyway, one of the nice drives there is the "Going to the Sun" road over Logan's Pass, we left the mountain hotel fairly early and drove the nice twisty road over the pass and then it started to rain so we decide to proceed to Kalispell just to look around. Just a few miles before Kalispell there is a loud bang and the front passenger side of the car drops down to the stops. It takes about 10 seconds to realise we have just experienced a broken front torsion bar. Knowing we are many days from finding a replacement part, I swing the car around and we start to drive slowly towards home. I now know you can drive with a broken torsion bar as long as your tire life will allow, I started out with practically new tires on the front and ended up with a very bad spare by the time we made it back home. We had a relaxing time but it was tough that we couldn't really enjoy the return trip on the nice mountain roads. Now I carry a spare set of torsion bars in the tool box that lives in my 914.

I bought a nearly rust free 914 for just $4000 just 5 years ago. That's ridiculous!

Having to crawl under the 914 to jump the starter solenoid with a screwdriver to get to my own wedding.

Then getting a ride home after the reception because it wouldn't start.

1# my dad brought home a 1970 914 in 1970. I was in 6th grade and was sick while my dad took all of the kids rides in the new car. I marveled at the hidden lights, 3 lids that could be opened up, engine in the middle, and 3 seat belts. Dad said it had a computer to make it run.

2# my folks were out in Ca. for a meeting when I was a sophomore in high school 1974. I decided to go to McDonald's for a hamburger and drive. Unfortunately the van parked next to me pulled out without seeing me and his front bumper caught my rear wheel opening and tore off my rear fender. Not good to have dad come back and see his car all ripped up.

3# driving same car down in Huston Texas for a co-op job in college in 1978. Had that crappy old vapor lock problem from the 1970 914 fuel pump location. I had to jump start my own car by pushing it down the road and popping the clutch. I did bring back 19 cases of Coors beer back to college that fall!

4# Just graduated from college in June of 1980. July 15th I was driving down the street from work and started smelling burnt rubber. stopped the car and looked at the rear passenger tire. The rear suspension broke off and was sitting sideways.

As you can see I experienced the life and death of a Porsche 914 from 6th grade to college graduate.

The so-called 1974 914 LE "Grasshopper" is a ridiculous story.

try this similar story:
As a newly elected Councilman in a small rural central California city, I was asked by to bring my '76 teener to drive in the annual city Christmas parade through town. I pulled into the parade line and began slowly idling down the main street route with another Councilman in the passenger seat. We hadn't gone far when a man on the sidewalk approached the side of our little yellow ride and told us we were "leaking water under the car real bad". That's an interesting comment since there is no water onboard a 914 to leak! I opened my door and leaned out to look under the car, only to see gasoline spraying down mid tunnel and rapidly pooling under the car! I quickly told my Council colleague to get out of the car fast! Then I franticly waved to onlookers to create an opening among the sidewalk crowd of people, and drove the still running 914 into a dirt field and shut it off. I left a trail of gasoline on the ground behind the car at least a foot wide as I went toward the field.
After having my 914 towed to my mechanic, as you probably already guessed, the fuel line, under pressure from tank in front to the engine in the rear, decided to split after 30 years, at that opportune moment during the parade. I had the fuel line repaired and all was fine.
I was invited to the city Christmas parade again the following year. When I pulled up in my teener to get in the parade line this time, my Council colleagues were standing nearby on the curb with lighters, flicking them repeatedly and saying they were "ready for me this year!" That's how you know who your friends are in politics!!!!

Very stoked to be enjoying my first 2.7/six conversion in 1978, had the pleasure of a gent in a 240z pull up next to me at a light (real busy/ L.A. city intetsection). He says let's have a go at it when the light turns green; I say is this for a $50 spot...he says no " How about pink slips ". I answered that I already had a garage full of Z cars...we both had a good laugh

I have 4 finds of oddities in 914s.

Number 1:

My fathers 914-6 we found half a beach and a bunch of in the cabin. Seems the previous owner liked to get all and use it as a chick magnet and park it on a sandy beach.

Number 2:

Tearing down a parts car, I found a rotted fish behind the back pad. Guessing the guy pissed someone off. Though it could have been a flood car as I also fond the 1.7L was full of sand, and ants had built a nest inside.

Number 3:
Picked up a rusted out parts car, went to cut it up ,and whirl sewing it in half I ground to a halt with my metal blade in my . Come to find out, some one had taken a pressure treated 4x4 and drove it into the logs. Keep the car from folding in half.

Number 4:
Brought home another parts car to find that it did not sag, though the logs where rusted to crap. I could reach into the car from the outside. Figured out why when I started cutting it up. Some one had access to plate steel, and welded it across the floor boards. 1/4" Steel plate will keep your 914 from folding in half. A huge plate of it to cover the 914s floor from front to back weighs over 300 pounds. It made a nice piece for a welding table in my buddies shop.

Drove to Roebling Road for a DE got in late about 9ish.. Pulled in next to my buddies Winnebago . Ramps down, straps off.. Buddy ( lewis) comes out and says "nah, do that in the morning.. Go to the hotel"..

Full agreement, so I start cranking to take the trailer off the truck with my son and Lewis standing shoulder to shoulder as on the last crank the 914 decides to leave the trailer, run over the cyclone fence and roll into the runoff area of the track....

Lewis turns and says " not in gear ugh???"

I paid $2500 for mine about 6 years ago. She has been a daily driver since for the most part.

Back in the early 80's I had a 73 2.0L that I had to leave out at my parents ranch for a year while I focused on my new job. When I decided to pick it up I drove it from Aptos, CA to Salinas on my way to Monterey with the top down and the stereo blasting. About 1 mile from Laguna Seca Race Way my stereo lost reception on all channels, just static. I pulled over at the small gas station and opened the trunk to check the antenna, maybe it pulled out or something, I thought to my self. I traced the antenna wire down into the steering area and pull it out, it is cut clean through!???? I climb under the car with a flashlight and shine it into the steering box to see the largest Norwegian Brown Rat looking back at me! Now what??

I asked the guy at the gas station if he had anything to help me get it out. He got a can of carb cleaner and a 5 gallon bucket and we managed to catch it. I said thanks, wired my antenna back up, started the car to leave, and the guy at the gas station jumps in front of my car, YOU CAN'T LEAVE THAT HERE!! I ask what should I do with it??? After a short conversation we decide that the SPCA has an office across the street from the track. I drive up and take the bucket into the SPCA. They say "perfect timing, we were just about to feed the hawks" . They open the cage, dump the 3 pound rat out and we watch as the hawks take care of the problem!!

That's my story!!

Here's another "I can't believe it's true!" (but it is) 914 story. I was traveling out of Modesto on the the main drag, McHenry Boulevard, at about 11 pm on a Saturday night. My 16 year old son was also driving next to my yellow 914 in his new little black Toyota pickup. He was in the curbside lane, and I was in my topless teener in the center lane. As there was no other traffic, we were going side by side at about 60 mph, when a Modesto Police cruiser pulls up to McHenry from a side street on the right, about 200 feet ahead of us. My son braked fast enough to make the right turn next the the officer's cruiser and head away down the side street. Of course I sailed by right in front of the cop in the center lane, unable to do anything. I could see the officer's rooftop lights come on like a Christmas tree in my mirror. I could also see my son traveling away toward home on the side street, waving at me with a satisfied smile on his face. I pulled over under the illumination of the car dealerships on upper McHenry Boulevard. Then I shut off the 2 liter engine of my '76 teener, put my hands on the top the the yellow Momo steering wheel and waited patiently for my inevitable speeding ticket. The officer pulled up behind me, flashing lights ablaze, got out of his car, and slowly walked up beside my knee high 914. I waited for a moment to make eye contact with him, but I could tell out of the corner of my eye that he was eyeballing my street legal go cart with a grin. When we finally actually looked at each other, I'll never forget his EXACT and ONLY nine words: "Just looking for kids Sir, have a nice evening." THAT'S IT! He turned and walked slowly away as I tried to mumble "Thank you officer". He did not ask me for my license, papers, or any questions at all, just that nine word sentence, and then he was gone! When I got home and told my son what had happened, he was pissed, saying the cops would have given HIM a ticket. I said darn straight they would have! A few gray hairs and an eye candy car can go a long way to ease the path of life!Click to view attachment

I drove my first (and to date, only) 1973 914 from Granada Hills, CA, to Rio Rancho, NM straight through, about 850 miles or so ... while it was running on 3 cylinders.

I believe the car was originally a 1.7L and someone confusingly put in a 2.0 bus motor, I think it was the previous-previous-previous owner. As Ron theorized, the bus motor had likely been over revved a few times. Anyway, it had a broken rocker arm the day I drove it back from CA to NM. So I was making less than 75% power (of a bus motor). I figure it was about a 40-50 hp motor.

Journey took me 18 hours, straight through. Quite an indoctrination for seat time in a "first 914"! I had to stop and let it cool for an hour or so at the continental divide near Flagstaff as it just was too heat soaked and tired to go any further without a break.

That bus motor would eventually drop, one by one, all of the other rockers arms during the next year or so while Joe O'Brien and I shopped for a 3.2L six. The last time, parts wound up in the cylinders themselves, valves were broken, and oil was poured all over a quarter mile of road and into Joe's driveway (now mine) ... except the oil that landed on the exhaust manifold, it just burned and smoked up the cabin so I was driving half-blind.

The last ride for that old bus motor was the day my Phoenix Red 73 914 looked just like a Spy Hunter car, smoke screen and oil slick!

It's a wee bit better than that now.

Way back when, I took my 914 1.8 one weekday evening to get it inspected for an upcoming DE. The inspection went OK and I headed home as the sun was beginning to set. Driving down RT81 there was hardly any traffic. I was closing quickly on 2 big trucks driving nose to tail in the right lane. I passed the first one OK and was passing the leader as we were crossing a pretty long bridge. I was almost past the leader as we neared the end of the bridge when I noticed the 6x6 wheel chock laying sideways in my lane right at the end of the bridge. There was no place for me to go. Big truck on the right, guardrail on the left. I hit the brakes then hit the 6x6. BAM! It went flying off into the median and the big truck went thundering by on the right, then the other big truck.

I went into diagnostic mode. No vibrations, the tires all seem to be holding air, wiggle the steering, thats OK. No funny sounds. The car seems alright. By now I'm down to about 40 MPH so I downshift to 4th and step on the gas. There is a rest stop coming up in a few miles, I'll stop there and check everything over. Run up in 4th gear, quick shift to 5th and I'm closing on the big trucks again. I go by both at a pretty good clip then lift off the gas to get back down to something resembling the speed limit and the car keeps accelerating. That ain't right. About 90 MPH, I turn off the ignition then turn it back on when I get down to about 55. Do that a few times and here comes the rest stop.

Pull in and get out to look the car over. Surprisingly there is no obvious damage. I start the car and it immediately goes to red line. Long story short, something was binding the throttle cable and I couldn't touch the gas pedal or the clutch pedal without the engine redlining. I got the engine to idle then set the idle speed to maximum, started the car in 1st gear then crash shifted the odd gears up to 5th. Going fast enough to get close to home on the highway. One crash shift down to 2nd coming off the highway in the dark and I could make it home running only a few stop signs.

A few days later I've got the car up on jackstands and find that something from the 6x6 came under the car and hit the clutch and throttle cables. Somehow moving one of them such that when I pressed the clutch, it pulled on the throttle cable and when I stepped on the gas, it would open the throttle but the return spring wasn't strong enough to close the throttle. The clutch cable was holding on by just a few strands.

I replaced both cables and everything was OK.

A long time ago I owned a beautiful 914/6. I had the engine rebuilt and at that time they also put in a new clutch, new fuel lines and were supposed to have put in new inner CV boots. A couple years later, I'm on a long run on the highway driving through western NY. There's not much at all out there. This is an area where you hit the scan button on your radio and it just does laps. Pretty boring piece of road. Almost no traffic at all.

I come over a slight rise and can see a long section of elevated roadway where there is no place for any cops to be hiding. Now is a good time to see how fast this puppy will go. Foot to the floor in 5th gear and hold it there. I go by the only car in sight at about 80 MPH and the /6 is starting to sing its song. Up to 100 MPH and it is pulling good, running strong. Here comes 120 and the car is feeling good. About 130something, we are still pulling hard and getting close to redline. A look in the mirror and, HORROR! There is a BIG CLOUD OF SMOKE behind me! Shit! I blew the motor and I'm a long way from home! Shove in the clutch and the engine goes to idle. No lights, no funny sounds, no vibrations. Wiggle the steering wheel, OK. touch the brakes, OK. blip the throttle, OK. Check the mirror and the smoke is almost gone. Down to about 60 now so I put it in gear and apply a bit of power. No smoke now. Everything seems OK.

Drive gently along to a rest stop. I pulled into a spot and stopped. Let the engine idle a bit and that sounds perfect. Shut it off and get out expecting to see a trail of oil and oil all over the back of the car but there isn't any. Whats going on here? Pop the engine lid and the engine compartment looks good. There were a few small spots of oil on one side but nowhere enough to make anything like the smoke I saw.

Drive gently home then put the car up on jackstands. Ahhh. Thats the problem. The inner CV boots had exploded and the grease hit the heat exchangers. The 20+ year old boots were never changed.

Ridiculous 914 stories?

Many of the horsepower claims I hear at places like car shows, etc.

After 31 years of 914 ownership, Betty and I have a few good stories about adventures in 914 ownership.


My first riding experience in a 914 was my first official date with my wife. We met at a PCA autocross at Fair Park in Dallas (where she stomped me into the ground). For our first date, I drove 45 minutes from Bedford (West of DFW airport) to Plano (way north of Dallas, two counties away) in my 924. She said she would drive us out on the date, as she knew the local area. It is late November, and a bit chilly.

The right heat exchanger flap on her car was disconnected because the engine had an oil leak, and it would fill the cabin with oil smoke. The left one worked fine. No big deal for her, as she was in the driver's seat. But I spent the whole date unable to see out of the car because the windshield had completely fogged over on the right side, and I was freezing as well!. I also got to hear someone ask if we knew the car was smoking. Her reply was "Yea, I know about that, it's no big deal. It does it all the time."

Betty told me much later that she knew I was a keeper when I didn't freak out while riding blind in the passenger seat of her car.

Once we started dating, I helped her fix the oil leak and hook the heat exchanger flapper back up. I also helped her fix the clogged injector that had it running on just 3 cylinders (more embarrassment about getting my ass handed to me at the AX).

Backing my 70 out the driveway, in the 70's, using only the rear view mirror. (Always look over your shoulder) I back right onto a parked landscape trailer. Dent the rear original bumper (square) and replace it with a 71 (rounded)


Liked the round better, at the time anyway.


I can still see the 70 bumper sticking out of the trash can by the curb. With one dent in it!